Dr. Dobson's Parenting Devotional - Jan. 11

In the past two weeks we have talked about cultural dangers facing your family today. One of the roots of these troubles is a philosophy called postmodernism, also known as moral relativism, which teaches that truth is unknowable. Nothing is right or wrong. Nothing is good or evil. The postmodernist is convinced that God, or anything resembling ultimate values, simply doesn’t exist. One of the foremost proponents of this philosophy is Peter Singer, a tenured professor and “bioethicist” at Princeton University. Singer wrote, “Very often it is not wrong at all [to kill a child once it has left the womb]. Simply killing an infant is never equivalent to killing a person.” This is where the postmodernists are taking us—to an almost total disregard for the value of human life.

We point out these disturbing developments to emphasize the influence of ideas on your kids and their behavior. Scripture says, “As [a man] thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7, nkjv). If your children begin to believe that they are the result of nothing more than happenstance, it undermines their motivation to be moral, lawful, respectful, and thankful—and to trust in an all-knowing, merciful God.

The apostle Paul urged Timothy to “turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge” (1 Timothy 6:20). That is good advice for families, too.

Before you say good night…

Have you taught your kids that right and wrong exist and are defined not by the culture, but by the King of the universe?

How can you keep “godless chatter” from influencing your kids?

Almighty God, we unequivocally affirm Your place as the only authority on truth! Thank You that Your unchanging Word transcends the conflicted and evil concepts that dominate our day. Show us how to teach our children to reject any ideas that do not come from You. Amen.

Quotes from Peter Singer, Practical Ethics, 2nd ed. (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1993), 191, and Paul Zielbauer, “Princeton Bioethics Professor Debates View on Disabilities and Euthanasia,” New York Times, 13 October 1999, B8, as quoted in Family News from Dr. James Dobson newsletter, May 2002.